7/8/22 – PG-13 – 1h 59m – Marvel Studios

Alan: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Michelle: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is another classic Thor adventure. Gorr the Godkiller is on a mission to kill all of the gods. Thor must stop him. Along the way Thor must face his past trauma and figure out how to repair the relationships he damaged while responding to that trauma.

Alan: This movie is very much a comedy. There is a lot of slapstick in it. Parts of it are narrated by Korg in voice-over. He may be an unreliable narrator who exaggerates for dramatic and humorous effect. It still has all of the action you expect from a Marvel movie.

Michelle: After the intro showing Gorr’s backstory, Thor: Love and Thunder turns to a series of short comedy and battle scenes featuring Thor narrated by Korg. Everyone in the theater was laughing. The quick cuts between the seemingly unrelated scenes along with the voice over made it seem like they could be a series of dreams and not part of the main plot line. I kept expecting to see a character wake up and get on with the main story. 

Alan: Director Taika Waititi also directed Thor: Raganrok as well as the vampire comedy What We Do In the Shadows and the pirate comedy Our Flag Means Death. Love and Thunder does not deviate from his formula.

Michelle: Love and Thunder did have an episodic comedy structure in the intro battles. 

Then the movie jumps around from Earth where Jane is to New Asgaard in Norway where the Asgaardian’s run a tourist destination to some magic city where all the gods live. The audience enjoyed the jokes. Many of the jokes seemed targeted at children. There were also many children in the village who play a part in the plot.

Alan: Christian Bale’s performance as Gorr was excellent. Once again, Marvel gives us a villain that we can relate to. Gorr sustained terrible loss through inaction by his god. I feel like his vendetta is justified.

Michelle: Thor is a flawed Marvel hero; he’s the goofy strong hero who mistakenly destroys allies’ as well as foes’ property during his battles while trying to do what he considers to be the right, good thing at the time.

Alan: I thought this was an excellent continuation of Thor’s journey and I’m excited to see how he continues to grow in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 3. I give it five stars.

Michelle: Thor: Love and Thunder delivers entertainment and laughs as expected in a Marvel film. Five stars.